UWG
News Item
Contact: University Communications & Marketing
Phone (678) 839-6464, FAX (678) 839-6645
ucm@westga.edu
Debate Team wins again
January 31, 2005
CARROLLTON, GA - The University of West Georgia Debate Team captured the second Annual Cal-Berkeley tournament with a victory over Northwestern University in championship round.
Their 3-0 decision in the final round completed an amazing run in which UWG won unanimous elimination round victories over teams from Dartmouth and Harvard in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Combined with a 3-0 decision over Fort Hays in the octafinals, they were an impressive 12-0 in the elimination rounds.
“Four opponents from among the top programs in the country. Four convincing wins for West Georgia!” stated Mike Hester, director of UWG’s debate program.
The team of James Thomas, junior from Roswell, and Joe Koehle, junior from Erie, PA, finished with an overall record of 9-1, with the only loss coming in the preliminary rounds to the same Dartmouth team they defeated in the quarterfinals. This is their second championship of the season, having won the Las Vegas Round Robin in September.
An ecstatic Hester identified this first place finish as unique in its dominance.
“It’s tough to win every elimination debate. It’s extremely difficult to defeat Dartmouth, Harvard and Northwestern in consecutive rounds. To do both while winning unanimous decisions in every single debate is nearly impossible,” he said.
Hester said that he and assistant coach Sarah Holbrook enjoyed watching Thomas and Koehle get on a roll and completely overwhelm their opponents.
“Given the tremendous support we receive from the University, it is so satisfying knowing that we were able to help show, once again, that West Georgia is second to none in terms of excellence in scholarship,” Hester said.
Thomas and Koehle have one more tournament before they begin preparing for the national championship tournaments. They'll compete at Northwestern in early February.
-30-